9 And he replied:

Go! Say to these people:

Keep listening, but do not understand;y

keep looking, but do not perceive.

10 Make the mindsD of these people dull;

deafen their ears and blind their eyes;

otherwise they might see with their eyes

and hear with their ears,

understand with their minds,

turn back, and be healed.z

11 Then I said, “Until when, Lord?”aa And he replied:

Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants,ab

houses are without people,

the land is ruined and desolate,

12 and the Lord drives the people far away,

leaving great emptiness in the land.

13 Though a tenth will remain in the land,

it will be burned again.

Like the terebinth or the oak

that leaves a stump when felled,

the holy seeda is the stump.b